142 Contemptuous of the Insults
Brush and india ink; H: 29.5 cm in.); W: 18.2 cm
(7^3 /i 6 in.)
82.00.96
MARKS AND INSCRIPTIONS: At top center, inscribed 16
in light brown ink by Goya; at top right corner, inscribed
37 in dark brown ink; at bottom, inscribed Despredar los
ynsultos in graphite by Goya.
PROVENANCE: Javier Goya, Madrid; Paul Lebas, Paris
(sale, Hotel Drouot, Paris, April 3, 1877, lot 83); Paul
Meurice, Paris (sale, Hotel Drouot, Paris, May 25, 1906,
lot 93); Maurius Paulme, Paris; Jean Groult, Paris; Cesar
de Hauke, Paris; Eric Ingerslev-Nielsen, London; art
market, London.
EXHIBITIONS: Exhibition of Old Master Drawings, P. and
D. Colnaghi and Co., London, 1974, no. 9. Goya Zeich-
nungen und Druckgraphik, Stadelsches Kunstinstitut und
Stadtische Galerie, Frankfurt, 1981, no. L45 (catalogue
by M. Stuffman).
BIBLIOGRAPHY: P. Gassier and J. Wilson, The Life and
Complete Work of Goya (New York, 1971), pp. 232, 234,
289 , no. 1391;?. Gassier, "Un source inedite de dessins
de Goya en France au XIXe siecle," Gazette des beaux-arts
80, no. 6 (July-August 1972), pp. 115, no. 83; 118; idem,
Frandsco Goya Drawings: The Complete Albums (New
York, 1973), pp. 166, 213, no. II9-E. 16; S. Holo,
"Goya's Despredar los Ynsultos Interpreted, "J. Paul Getty
Museum Journal n (1983), pp. 90-94.THIS DRAWING IS PART OF THE NOW DISMANTLED
"Black Border Album," which Goya drew around
1803-1812 according to Gassier (1973, p. 13). It is gen-
erally recognized that these drawings were made for
Goya's own amusement and interest rather than for sale
or other purposes. Gassier and Wilson (1971) have
pointed out that these drawings are comparable to "little
pictures," a quality emphasized by the autograph double
black borders surrounding complete, self-contained
compositions.
The Museum's drawing has been interpreted by
most scholars as alluding directly to the French occupa-
tion of Spain and the War of Independence. The political
meaning is presented in the form of the contrast between
a Spanish gentleman and the caricatures of two Napo-
leonic generals as dwarfs. This analysis has been refined
by Holo (1983), who has noted that the chapeaux de bras
worn by the two soldiers were in general use in the early
nineteenth century and that the interpretation of the
scene should be broadened by the equation of these fig-
ures with all military oppressors in Spain. Equally, she
has interpreted the gesture of the Spanish gentleman as a
common sign of contempt and has suggested that the
drawing is a highly personal reflection of Goya's defiant
attitude toward military intruders, a view that is sup-
ported by the probability that the Spaniard is a self-
portrait.3l6 SPANISH SCHOOL • GOYA